A merchant ship hit by a missile off Yemen

A missile fired from Yemen hit a merchant ship off the coast of the war-torn country, maritime security firm Ambrey said early Thursday, after Houthi rebels said they had also attacked a US ship. "A merchant ship was reportedly hit by a 'missile' while sailing ... southwest of Aden, Yemen," Ambry said, adding that "the ship reported an explosion" on board. "Ambri was aware that a missile had been launched from... Taiz, a province in Yemen," the firm said.
The statement came after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they had fired missiles at a US ship traveling to Israeli ports. The missiles "directly hit the ship," which the rebels identified as the "Kol," Houthi spokesman Yahya Sari said in a statement on social media. Sarri said the ship was hit in the Gulf of Aden.
The Houthis, who are part of the anti-Western and anti-Israel "axis of resistance" that includes Iran-backed groups, have harassed shipping in the Red Sea for months, prompting retaliatory punitive attacks by the US and Britain.
The Houthis have launched more than 30 attacks on merchant ships and warships since Nov. 19, the Pentagon said Tuesday. The rebels say the attacks are in solidarity with the Palestinians and a protest against the Israel-Hamas war that has raged in the Gaza Strip since October. The attacks have prompted some shipping companies to bypass South Africa to avoid the Red Sea, a vital route through which about 12 percent of the world's maritime trade normally takes place.
In response, US and British forces launched strikes against Houthi missile sites and other military installations. /BGNES